DNA, DVR, and Dates

I'm a sucker for alliteration, hence today's post title. I've got a whole lot of random for you today. I feel like I blogged a ton last week, but I wanted to recap our Oregon Road Trip and share my July Books with ya'll. We are heading into August and I flipped my calendar over last week and was shocked at how busy our August is. And with 2 teachers in the house, we're both sort of a mix of "get me in my classroom! Yeah!" and "OMG, please Lord, give me sweet students and endless energy." I am excited to get back in a groove but there's always this foreboding feeling that comes with the end of summer. I was chatting with a friend the other day and I was telling her how I often have to remind myself that "LIFE DOESN'T END WHEN SCHOOL STARTS." The things I love to do and my play time with Hank will still go on....I'll just have 21 new little friends in my life. Haha!

Hank looks like this a lot of the day. This boy is FULL OF JOY and always giving squeals of happiness and smiles. 

Ok, for the first "D" of today's post: DNA. Guys, I've been wanting to try one of the DNA services for a while now and 23 and Me had a Father's Day sale this June so I went for it. I decided to get the ancestry kit and not the health one because that sort of freaked me out. Prior to this I didn't know much at all about my heritage. The results were interesting and I'm about 1/3 Dutch, 1/3 French/German, 1/3 English with a smidgen of Swedish. I have gone through the results briefly here and there but there is so much to explore and I even started diving into the relative finder tool. I really need to sit down and read through it all. It's incredible what a little vial of spit can reveal! And since I'm apparently part Dutch, I have my eye on this lemon blueberry dutch baby pancake recipe. YUM!

DVR---It was hilarious when we returned home from Oregon because our DVR was SO full. I like to watch my shows (folding laundry and getting ready are my prime times for DVR'ing) and delete 'em so I powered through and we now have a cleared DVR. I will accept my trophy anytime. Ha. I've been watching: Teen Mom, The Bachelorette, Dateline, Counting On, Outdaughtered, The Last Defense, Younger, Young and Hungry, The Next Food Network Star, Married At First Sight, Rattled, and Teachers.

Dates---Dating my husband is one of my very favorite things. We are fortunate to have family and friends who enjoy watching Hank so that we can go on dates. We have a concert and a play this month and we just got tickets for Waitress in September and I can't wait. I love reconnecting, having chats about life, and laughing and joking. As much fun as it is to put on makeup (I rarely do in the summer), and go out to eat or something, sometimes a date night is watching stand up comedy on Netflix and going to bed by 9:30. I sincerely believe the marriage relationship can grow deeper, stronger, and more enriching over time but it's so much easier to reap all the benefits of married life if you enjoy some quality time together. It can be trickier to schedule and plan with a baby on the scene, but I believe it is so so so worth it. Long live date nights!

Today my mom, sis, and I are having a gals day at LAGOON and I'm excited for some rides! Have a great week.

Savor Your Sparkle,
Leslie